Being Human
by Voldy's Worst Nightmare
Summary: The Decepticons have taken over England, and are after a 19-year-old orphan girl, Liz, and her friends. They must find the autobots and get their help, but Liz is dying and no one knows why. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

Being Human

**Disclaimer: I own Optimus, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Barricade and Jazz – okay, Maple, yes I share him with you but I claimed him first 0:)**

**Other transformers are claimed by other members of the RRA, but I can't remember how many and by whom XD**

**Summary: The Decepticons have taken over England and are after 19-year-old orphan, Liz Norton. Thanks to them she discovers who and what she is and is determined to stop their plans from happening, but she's dying, and will have to seek help from 2 other girls, and some unorthodox allies, for help. In return for her life, she must give the transformers some important lessons in being human.**

…

"Liz! Liz!"

"Jack what is it?" the blonde asked, sticking her head out of the office where she'd been brutally dismembering the computer.

"They're coming," Mr Norton, Jack to us, is in charge of St Bertram's orphanage. Liz didn't need to ask what "they" meant; she'd come across decepticons before, and they were still after children.

She nodded and hid all the other kids in the old world war 2 bunker in the back garden, where all of our supplies are stored; it's capable of withstanding a meteor crashing onto the top of it, so a pile of scrap landing on it wouldn't damage it in the least.

"Liz, what's going on?" Will, another inmate only a year younger than her, helped to bustle the kids inside.

"We're being visited by the scraps again," was her response, "You and Zo keep an eye on the young ones; Jack'll handle it.

"What about you?"

The corners of Liz's mouth twitched upwards, "Not one to leave a project half finished," She ran back to the office and began reassembling the computer as fast as she could. She'd just finished when the now-familiar splintering sound as the door was kicked in reverberated through the house.

"Where are they?" the mechanical voice demanded; Starscream, Megatron's second in command.

Liz never understood why she knew his name or the names of all the other decepticons – she'd never met any of them but they all seemed strangely familiar.

"Not here," Jack replied, "You've taken enough,"

"None of them are compatible."

Compatible for what? Liz stayed perfectly still, waiting for him to leave.

"What do you do with the ones who aren't "compatible"?"

"They are sent to join the workforce"

Liz had had enough. She scrambled to my feet and opened the office door.

"You can't send kids to work," She told him, "It'd kill them."

"When we find the compatible child the others will be released."

"Why don't you just release them now and have done with it?" Liz challenged, "They're not compatible for whatever sick, sordid little scheme you have, so return them to their families or orphanages or whatever."

"We take no orders from human scum!" Starscream shrieked, lunging at the human girl.

Liz sidestepped and kicked the switch that booted up the computer.

A bright blue arc leapt from the monitor and hit the decepticon in the face.

"Run!" She yelled; Jack didn't need telling twice.

They hit the road just as Starscream came out the orphanage, intent on their destruction.

Any method of transport with engines had been confiscated – presumably to make them a new army – but one advantage of living in London from the day she was found, barely a week old, on the orphanage doorstep was that Liz knew all the alleyways and backstreets by heart. She split off from Jack in order to distract the decepticon with two targets.

It didn't work – he headed straight for me.

Unfortunately, she'd underestimated the reach of his arm – he grabbed her and rocketed off towards his leader.

The others being safe was the only consolation for her stupidity.

…

"Master," Starscream bowed before Megatron (the only Decepticon everyone did know the name of) and threw Liz at his feet, "I have located the sparkling child,"

"What the bloody hell are you on about?" the girl demanded, "I'm a 19-year-old _human_ from _Greenwich_. Not one of your weird little metal things."

Megatron raised his optic ridges.

"For once you do not fail me, Starscream," he smirked.

Liz was now even more clueless than she had been in the first place.

"What do you mean 'you do not fail me'? He DID fail – he brought you a human. _Again_."

"If you were fully human," Megatron sneered, "You would not be able to understand what it is we are saying."

"Why?"

"We are speaking the language of our people," Megatron replied, "Cybertronian."

"How many times can I say 'bullshit'?" Liz retorted, "If I can understand you then you're obviously talking in English – I don't speak any other language fluently."

"And yet you are capable of understanding everything we say," another decepticon – Liz recognised him to be Soundwave – pointed out, a sly smile creeping across his ugly metal face.

"Can it, satellite rapist," Liz snapped; the other Decepticons in the room sniggered.

"I do not –"

"Well what's with the creepy tentacles then?" She countered.

"SILENCE!" Megatron roared.

"Slag off you fragging glitch!" Liz retorted; the decepticons were stunned.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME IN SUCH A WAY!" Megatron roared.

"You owe me an explanation, moron," Liz replied, "I won't answer your questions unless you answer mine."

Megatron glared at her.

"I do not make bargains," he replied.

"You've been testing all the children in the entire country to try and find me," Liz countered, "So that means you need me for something. I'm not going to do anything you tell me to unless you answer my questions first."

Another glare.

"Ask," he conceded waspishly.

"What the Frag is a sparkling child?"

"_The_ Sparkling child," Megatron corrected, "Is a human child with a Cybertronian heart."

"Which is?"

"A spark," Megatron scowled, "in a metal casing,"

"So I'm half robot?"

"No,"

"Huh?"

"You are mostly human, but with a Cybertronian core," the leader of the Decepticons seemed not to like having to answer my questions, "When your spark is fully grown, it will be removed and placed into a decepticon shell. Your consciousness will be transferred within the spark."

"And what happens to me?" Liz asked, scowling back at him now, "I'm just another dead human, right? I don't mean anything,"

"Correct,"

"Sorry gents," Liz breezed towards the door, "being cut open and having my heart ripped out isn't exactly my idea of fun –"

The Seeker trine barred the door.

"You will not leave," Megatron ordered.

…

Maple was one of the lucky ones.

She'd been listed to help with building the strange machine with another girl under the watchful eye of the doctor.

"Ze calibration must be perfect!" he was ranting at Paula, "Ve cannot haf a perfect calibration if ze fusion cannon is not fixed properly! _Dumkopf__!_"

Megatron, after effectively kidnapping an extremely pissed off girl, carried her to the workshop.

"This is where your shell is being made," he informed her.

"No," the girl snarled, "This is where the vehicles you've stolen get turned into another pile of scrap,"

Maple snorted, struggling to remain serious as she took in the girl's appearance.

An orphan, she guessed, about nineteen years of age, and judging by the hand-me-down clothes she wore from a rather poor orphanage, even by the standards set by the new era of tyranny, where everyone was poor. Her hair, a dark blonde, was tied back in a high ponytail and she scowled through deep-set brown eyes at her captor.

"You will be transferred when the spark is ready," Megatron growled, "your puny human form will not survive harbouring a fully mature spark."

"Well it'll have to," the girl snapped, "I'm not having anything to do with you and your satellite rapist organisation."

"Perhaps you would like to talk with the people making it," Megatron ignored the girl's irritated remark, turned to the pretender guard and said, "Make sure she doesn't escape," before walking off, presumably to kill some innocent humans.

The girl stood there, scowling at the pretender guards.

"No! No! NO!" the doctor ranted at Paula, "You cannot attach ze fulcrum to se axle! You vill ruin ze whole sing!" he produced what looked like a little chainsaw and started towards a terrified Paula.

"HEY!" the doctor was knocked flying by a well-thrown tyre, "Leave them alone!"

Maple whistled appreciatively at the new girl, "Well-thrown,"

"Thanks," the girl replied, unsmiling, "I've had practice," she picked up the doctor and welded him to a metal plate on the wall, "Leave them alone," she repeated.

"How dare you speak to me like zat!" the doctor yelled, "Do you know who I am?"

"Oh Primus," the girl muttered, "Another piece of scrap who doesn't know who he is. I don't care who or what you are, you leave them the hell alone or I'll tear your spark out and lodge it in the wall. Clear?"

The doctor nodded, evidently terrified; Maple got the feeling that this girl may be a pretender like the guards.

"Good," the girl growled, turning towards the other two girls and dropping the harsh attitude, "You okay?"

They nodded, confused.

"Good," she picked up the fusion canon and aimed it at one of the guards, "Let us out or I blow your head off,"

The pretender sneered.

"You don't even know how to activate it," he laughed.

"Oh no?"

Within seconds the both pretenders were smoking piles of scrap on the floor.

"Let's move," the girl suggested, throwing the canon away as if it had shocked her, "We don't have much time before megatwat figures out we've done a runner,"

…

"So who are you?"

"Name's Liz Norton,"

"Norton?" Paula raised her eyebrows.

"I was abandoned by my real parents at the front of the Greenwich orphanage when I was a baby," Liz explained, shrugging, "Jack Norton, the guy who runs the joint, named me Elizabeth Norton, but I prefer Liz,"

"You were abandoned?"

"Yup,"

"You don't sound too cut up about it," Maple accused.

"Liz shrugged again, "I never knew 'em," she replied.

They crept through the underbrush in an uncomfortable silence.

There'd been a car that hadn't been gutted at the headquarters – they checked it for any traces of being a Decepticon before they stole it – but it had run out of petrol as they approached Newcastle – a mere 50 miles away from the Decepticon base. They'd been fighting their way through thick forests ever since.

"Where're we headed?" Maple asked.

"Scotland," Liz replied, "They haven't managed to take over there just yet,"

"How did they get control anyway?" Paula asked.

"The snobs voted conservative," Liz replied, "They didn't realise that they were letting alien robots take over at the time –" she suddenly hissed and clutched at her heart.

"You okay, Liz?" Paula asked.

"It's nothing," Liz replied through gritted teeth, "Just a heartburn,"

"Maybe we should have a rest –" Maple suggested.

"We need to keep moving," Liz straightened up, wincing slightly, "We can't risk them finding us,"

They failed to persuade her otherwise and set off again.

"So what about you lot?" Liz asked, "You must have families,"

"I came here to visit a friend," Paula explained, "and then they wouldn't let anyone leave, so I ended up stuck here."

"Where're you from?"

"Scotland,"

"Ah," Liz smiled, "They're doing pretty well against the Decepticons; they got some scientist guy who made a force field to obstruct the RNA,"

"RNA?" Paula was confused.

"I guess it's their version of DNA," Maple suggested; Liz nodded.

"What's it do?" Paula asked

"If I remember rightly," Liz frowned, "It creates an energy field that repels pure RNA organisms," she shrugged, "I didn't read to the end of the article because I got a headache,"

They struggled on, determined to reach the town by nightfall.

…

Newcastle was deserted; everyone up North had fled to Scotland, most to keep their children safe. Cars littered the roads and driveways as if they'd been abandoned there – some with the keys still in the ignition.

The girls broke into the inn and camped there overnight.

The next morning, they borrowed a car – a sleek black Porsche with the keys still attached – and made their way up to Scotland, sticking to back roads in order to keep their location as secret as possible.

"What'll we do when we get to Scotland?" Paula asked from the wheel – Liz had had another heartburn moment that morning so Paula insisted on driving.

"You guys can stay there if you want," Liz replied from where she was dozing in the back seat (she'd spent the night awake keeping an eye out for the decepticons), "But I'm heading to the US – They've got an organisation there that might be able to help us out,"

"Always wanted to go to America," Maple grinned, "I'll come with you,"

Paula grinned from the wheel, "You don't expect me to stay behind do you?" they crossed the border and a fitful scream reverberated through the car.

They were all pulled from the Porsche and interrogated as Liz lay shaking on the ground, being fussed over by medics.

"She has RNA in her," one of them concluded, "That's why she reacted the way she did,"

"What about you lot?" the army officer, an American Major, demanded, "How do you know about the decepticons? What is your friend?"

"We were forced to work for them," Maple explained, "And Liz is human,"

"Then why did she flag up our scanners?" the American countered.

"Major!" the medic yelled, "We need to get this girl to a hospital. Now."

The Major nodded, "Looks like you'll be coming with us for a while,"

Maple and Paula were sat in the back of another black car while Liz was lead away on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

…

Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN! Woo! Chapter one finished! XD I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Many thank-yous to Maple, who helped me sort out the plot for the story! :D Review to tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – debate

**Disclaimer: see chapter one**

**Thanks for the reviews! I feel special now! ^^**

**Anyway, here's chapter two!**

…

A silver Chevrolet stingray concept trundled alongside the black car transporting Maple and Paula.

"Nice car," Maple whistled, staring at it, "It's awesome"

"That's Sideswipe," the American Major explained, "he's an autobot,"

"Auto-what?" Paula asked, frowning.

"Autobot," the Major explained, "They're the enemies of the Decepticons – the good guys,"

"There're good guys?" Maple was incredulous.

"Of course there are," the Major chuckled, "did you guys think it was man vs. machine?"

"You try living under Decepticon rule for three years," Paula grumbled.

The Major nodded, "We've heard the horror stories,"

"Will Liz be okay?" Maple asked.

"Sure she will," the Major shrugged, "Ratchet'll look after her, she'll be fine,"

"Who?"

"The autobot medic,"

"Oh," Paula looked out the window for a few moments before asking, "Who the hell are you and why are you in Scotland anyhow?"

"Major Lennox," the major replied, "We're here to help the escapees from England,"

"There're a lot of us then?" Maple asked.

"More from the north than the south," Lennox shrugged, "But they're flooding in daily, we're taking most of them to the US, those of them who can travel, at least,"

"What happens there?"

"They're given homes in U.S cities," Lennox replied, "and looked after until the mess in England gets cleared up,"

"Aren't you worried about resentment building up?" Maple pointed out, "with the British taking your jobs and all the rest of it."

"We'll deal with it," Lennox replied, "We've dealt with much worse before,"

"Oh really?" Paula raised her eyebrows, "You don't know humans very well, then,"

"What do you mean?"

"We've seen riots," Maple replied, "riots between the idiots who supported the Decepticons at first and the ones who never supported them; most people didn't make it to the next morning, the rest were forced into service,"

Lennox raised his eyebrows, "You're not exaggerating," it wasn't a question.

"Believe me," Paula replied, "compared to Black Sabbath at Christmas last year that was a tea party,"

On that awkward note they pulled up outside the military air base.

"Your friend's in the sick bay," Lennox informed the girls as they got out the car, "But I don't think she'll be conscious,"

Maple and Paula ignored his comment and ran straight to the sickbay, the silver car following closely.

…

Liz was sat up and reading a weapons blueprint when they arrived.

"Hullo!" she grinned cheerily as if her little episode at the border hadn't happened at all, "How's life for the healthy people?"

"Life is good," Maple replied, flopping into a visitor chair next to Paula, "How's the invalid?"

"No idea," Liz grinned, "the medic's insane; kept throwing wrenches at this mech called Sunstreaker for disturbing him."

Maple snorted.

A grumbling red-and-yellow transformer strode into the room.

"Are you going to rest now?" he asked Liz, "or am I going to need a sedative?"

He glowered at the two girls visiting.

"Relax, nurse," Liz chuckled, "These two are my friends. Maple, Paula; this is Ratchet. Ratch, this is Paula and Maple," she pointed at the two girls.

"Pleased to meet you both," Ratchet replied, "But your friend needs to rest; I'm afraid I must ask you to leave,"

"Aw, don't be such an old stick, Ratch," Liz chuckled, "I'll be fine, it was just an odd – OW!" she hissed and clutched at her heart.

"Liz?" Paula and Maple were picked up and placed on the other side of the room as Ratchet performed various scans on their friend.

"What is it?" Maple asked.

"What's going on?" Paula asked at the same time.

"I… I don't know…" Ratchet frowned at the scan results, "I've never seen this before," the scanner peeped and he blinked at it again, "She's completely stabilised in 6 seconds," he tapped the screen, "How is that possible? One minute she's dying and the next –" his optics widened, "Oh,"

"Oh what?"

"Ratch!" a silver mech poked his head through the door, "We've got a Decepticon in the base,"

"Sideswipe," Ratchet stated coldly, "For the fifth time; we don't get decepticons in Scotland."

"There's a Decepticon in the base!" Sideswipe insisted, "and it's right –" he stared incredulously at the once again unconscious Liz, "It's her, she's a Decepticon,"

"Don't be ridiculous," Paula snorted, "She welded their little doctor thing to a wall and blew up two Decepticon pretenders. How can she be a Decepticon?"

"Her energy signature," Ratchet stared at the scanner again, "The reaction at the border, the equipment that scrambled – she's half cybertronian,"

"What?" everyone yelped shocked by Ratchet's conclusion.

"She has a spark," Ratchet explained, "instead of a heart. She was created by the decepticons; that explains the signature. But the spark's becoming too powerful to survive inside a human, whether they have RNA or not. When did this start?"

"A few weeks ago," Maple replied, "shortly after we'd left the Decepticon base,"

"I swear it started at Newcastle," Paula commented.

"Remember when we were running and she had to stop because of heartburn?"

Paula paused; "Yeah…"

"What if it wasn't heartburn?" Maple suggested, "She's been getting heartburn a lot lately if it is, so what if it's this spark thing?"

"What's so special about heartburn anyway?" Paula asked Ratchet.

"The spark," Ratchet explained, "is killing her slowly."

"She must've known she'd been dying," Maple realised, "right from the beginning; she knew but she never told us."

"Is there any way to stop it?" Paula asked.

"Not unless we transfer the spark into a transformer shell," Ratchet replied.

"She'd kill you for that," Maple commented, "And where're you going to find one anyway?"

"We've got machines," Ratchet replied, "We could build a body from them,"

"Isn't there another way that doesn't involve turning her into a robot?" Paula asked, knowing just how much Liz would hate it.

Liz screamed and, unconscious, started clawing at her chest.

"It's the only plan we've got," Ratchet replied, "And we only have a few more days before… well…"

They knew exactly what he meant; a few more days before the spark killed Liz, a few more days to make a shell powerful enough to hold her consciousness.

A few more days to save her life.

"How exactly are we going to persuade her that it's a good idea?" Maple asked, "She tried to kill the decepticons who wanted her to become one of them when they mentioned the same idea, although theirs wasn't to save her life,"

"Maybe if we can get her to realise that it's the only way she can stay alive long enough to help force the Decepticons out of England," Ratchet mused, "do you think she would consent to that?"

"Maybe," Paula replied, frowning, "but Liz can be a little unpredictable and we've only known her for a few weeks; it's difficult to predict her choices for her,"

"All the same," Ratchet turned to Sideswipe, "Find Jolt and Ironhide, tell them we need as many parts as we can find to create a femme shell, and hurry,"

"What if she turns Decepticon on us?" Sideswipe challenged.

"Look, Sideswipe," Maple informed him, sounding more than slightly irritated by his insistence on mistrust, "Liz is our friend, she got us out of England safely right under the noses of the decepticons – do you really think she'd start working for them if she became one of you guys? Use some common sense!"

"She's right," Paula added, "We haven't known her all that long but we've known her for long enough to know that whatever she happens to be, she grew up as a human, and sees the Decepticons from our point of view. She wouldn't turn her back on the people she grew up with no matter what happened to her,"

"Sideswipe," Ratchet growled, "Now,"

Sideswipe grumbled and left to find Jolt and Ironhide.

"So what now?" Maple asked in the awkward silence.

Liz groaned and sat up.

"Bloody, buggering heartburn," she grumbled, "What did I miss?"

Everyone stared at her.

She blinked, "What?"

"Your eyes…" Paula began, stunned.

"They're brown," Liz replied, "They've always been brown,"

"No," Maple replied, "They're blue."

"No," Liz insisted, "They're brown,"

"Who here has a mirror?" Paula asked, hunting around the sickbay for a few minutes before coming back with a compact mirror a nurse had lent her, "See for yourself,"

She brandished the mirror in front of Liz.

Liz blinked.

"What the frag is going on?" she demanded, "They look –" she stared at Ratchet before returning her gaze to the mirror.

Maple and Paula also stared at Ratchet.

"Do all autobots have blue optics?" Maple asked conversationally.

"Yes,"

"That shade of blue?" Paula added.

"Yes," Ratchet was puzzled, "Why do you ask?"

"They're the exact same shade of blue," Maple explained, "As Liz's eyes have just turned,"

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Shit," Liz said.

…

They had been arguing for two hours.

Liz knew she would only survive if she was transplanted into a transformer shell, Ratchet had told her, but she still hated the idea of becoming what the decepticons had designed her to be, even if there were a few modifications.

"You want to help the autobots drive the decepticons out of England, right?" Lennox was saying.

"Yes…" Liz replied, "But I don't want to be a robot,"

"Alien robot," Maple corrected, "And totally kick-ass, if I may say so myself," she was perched on Sideswipe's shoulder in order to create more space for the autobots in the small space. Paula was perched on the shoulder of a blue autobot called Jolt, who seemed better disposed toward Liz than Sideswipe had been.

"The only way you'll survive long enough to help," the autobot leader, Optimus Prime, explained, "Is by becoming a transformer,"

"And then I'll go all psycho and start killing people," Liz argued, "I'm sorry but I'm not prepared to risk that."

"See?" Sideswipe exclaimed, "Even she doesn't want to risk it!"

"Shut up, Sideswipe," Ratchet ordered.

"But –"

"I said," Ratchet interrupted, "Shut. Up."

Sideswipe sulked in his corner, causing Maple to giggle at his childishness.

"You lot are worse than human boys!" she grinned.

"They live longer," Liz grinned, "So they take more time to stop acting like 2-year-olds,"

"Oi!" Sideswipe grumbled, "I resent that!"

"It's true!" Liz grinned, "Everyone knows that girls mature faster than boys," she winced slightly as she adjusted some of the pillows behind her, "Bloody spark thing,"

"You should consider your options carefully before making any snap decisions," Optimus advised, "I can predict what Ratchet is going to say; you need to rest. Let us know when you have reached a decision, _after_," he added before Liz could say anything, "You have thought through all of your options."

Liz scowled for a few minutes before failing to suppress a yawn.

Ratchet immediately ordered everyone out after making sure Liz was asleep.

Nobody noticed the slight dip in Liz's life signs

…

"C'mon, Sides," Maple insisted from the autobot's shoulder, "It's not like she's going to do anything when she's asleep in the sick bay,"

"I know," Sideswipe was still tense, "But we can't be so sure about the aft-cracks who created her," he shook his head, "I don't know why they did it but it's sick,"

"You think I don't know that?" Maple replied, "Do you think she wants decepticon genes? I think what's worse is that they're from Megatwat himself –"

"WHAT?" Sideswipe was stunned.

"Yeah," Maple nodded, "She told us so – he extracted human DNA from a criminal database and mixed it with his RNA and grew her in a birthing tube apparently,"

"That is just wrong," Sideswipe shuddered, "That's just not normal."

"That's Liz Norton," Paula replied as she approached, "I'm slightly worried by Ironhide and Jolt – they're building a shell already,"

"Just a precaution," Sideswipe explained, "In case she goes into major shutdown without explicitly saying she doesn't want to be a transformer."

"I think that's taken as red, Sides," Maple informed him, "You saw what she was like when they tried to convince her to do the transplant-ey thing."

"Ratchet's like a typical doctor," Sideswipe explained, "He wants to save life whenever he can."

"Sounds reasonable," Paula nodded, "But not practical; Liz would rather die than become a decepticon."

"She won't be a decepticon," Sideswipe argued, "Not unless she chooses to be,"

"She won't see it that way," Maple countered, "You know she won't,"

"We'll just have to find a way of persuading her that it's a good idea," Paula replied, "If we can somehow convince her that she's not the decepticon type then maybe she won't be so scared about it,"

"_Ratchet to Sideswipe,_"

"Ratch?" Sideswipe asked, "What's up?"

"_Bring Maple and Paula_," Ratchet replied, "_It's Liz_"

…

Liz was lying stiff as a board on the hospital bed, twitching as if she were being electrocuted.

"What's happening to her?" Maple asked.

"Febrile fit," Ratchet explained, "Her core is overheating and she's suffering from convulsions as a result."

"Why's her core over-heating?" Paula frowned.

Ratchet hesitated before answering, "I don't know," he admitted, "The spark hasn't fully matured yet."

"How did it happen?" Sideswipe asked.

"How the Frag should I know?" Ratchet snapped irritably, "One minute she's completely stable and the next her life signs have reached critical."

"How long do we have before…?" Maple asked.

"Less than 6 hours," Ratchet replied before turning to the comm.

"How long until the shell is completed?" he asked.

"_Ten minutes,_" Jolt replied, "_Why?_"

"Make it five," he ordered, "We have to operate."

…

**Uh-oh… will Liz survive the operation? Will she try to kill them for turning her into a transformer? Wait and see XD**

**I have a lot of time on my hands right now because I've finished all my exams and stuff, so hopefully I'll be writing more :D**

**Review to tell me what you think! XD**


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